Jason Bowden says, “Cloud based business intelligence is a game changer in the digital business. All types of businesses, from small to large enterprises are equally adapting to the emergence of cloud based tools to enhance business intelligence. Small to medium business enterprises are now embracing cloud based applications to make their marketing strategies highly competitive. Large firms, on the other hand, are using cloud business intelligence solutions in further expanding their market and using it for experimentation in furtherance of building a more productive market environment“. The... [...]

David Kirkpatrick says, “Data handling and analytics can sometimes offer shocking results, as global B2B company National Instruments discovered after a surprising decrease in an email campaign’s conversion rate. Key Obstacle: Concern about the new numbers “When I first saw the number change, I was a bit freaked out,” said Stephanie Logerot, Database Marketing Specialist, National Instruments. Stephanie, as a strategist, felt her greatest challenge was communicating the new way of looking at the data to National Instruments’ stakeholders outside of the database marketing team. This... [...]

Danny Chadburn says, “In early 2011 I put together a simple video for a friend’s band for a song they made referencing a certain (lonely) dictator. It was uploaded to YouTube and had been seen by a handful of people; however on December 17 that year the viewing figures suddenly skyrocketed. The despot in question had died, and I was the unexpected beneficiary of some web traffic. Something I had long forgotten about was suddenly being watched by thousands of people!”. How to breathe new life into old content ‘Econsultancy’ Blog  [...]

Juliet Stott says, “Mobile first is not a luxury but a necessity if your ecommerce business is to keep pace with the rapid growth in mobile use.   One in five people in the world own a smartphone and one in 17 own a tablet, according to BI Intelligence. Revenues from mobile sales in Europe and the US continue to grow dramatically too. In the last four years they are up from 2.2% in 2010 and predicted to grow to 23% by the end of 2014, meaning transactions made on the go will be worth $101bn. Research from Intelligent Positioning showed that mobile and tablet traffic is also set to overtake... [...]

Jo Hill says, “Earlier this year I wrote about how to start formulating a digital marketing strategy. Getting the strategy right is of course paramount. But even when the strategy is right, if it’s not understood, supported, and turned into action then it’s barely more than an academic exercise. Ella Fitzgerald was on the money when she sang “tain’t what you do, it’s the way that you do it… that’s what gets results”. Here are some actions to take when creating your digital marketing strategy that will also help to build the foundation for its success”. How... [...]

Graham Charlton says, “Earlier this year, I wrote a post looking at some of the best ecommerce sites around, picking out aspects of these sites that others could learn from.  As the vast majority were B2C, some commentors challenged me to find similarly good examples of B2B ecommerce sites. I’ve asked the Econsultancy team, found a few myself, and here we are. Some are listed because they offer a great all round experience, others because they do a particular thing very well (navigation, copywriting, and so on)”. Which B2B ecommerce sites are getting it right? Here’s... [...]

Ian McCaig says, “Unlocking international or cross-border sales has never been as lucrative as it is today. Historically, shipping costs, lack of trust and limited information were factors in preventing growth in trade but now cross-border shopping is estimated to be worth $105bn. While this is a huge growth area for ecommerce businesses, several obstacles still prevent online customers from comfortably venturing outside their borders and buying from international retailers. Challenges often involve language or currency difficulties, logistics, restrictive local laws, or unclear product... [...]

Shane Jones says, “While ecommerce has come a long way in recent years, it still has a long way to go. One of the main problems with online shopping is that a certain amount of guesswork is always required before making a purchase. Customers are never quite sure about the quality of an item, since they can’t touch it like they would when shopping in person. Instead, they are forced to rely on small photos and glib product descriptions”. The five words that don’t belong in ecommerce customer service ‘Econsultancy’ Blog  [...]

Sam Oakley says, “Five years ago if you were a brand and you wanted to make a video, you went to a video agency, begged them to make it more viral than h5n1 and paid through the nose for the privilege. If you wanted an infographic you went to a design agency, if you wanted to write editorial you went to a PR agency etc… Your content creation was almost completely outsourced and, unless you had a reasonably serious budget, a great content marketing campaign was probably beyond you. That couldn’t be further from the truth today, brands have a wealth of tools that allow them to create... [...]

David Moth says, “Experiential marketing, what is it good for? The premise is to create a closer bond between the consumer and the brand by immersing them in a fun and memorable experience. If a brand event stirs genuine positive emotions within people then they are more likely to associate those emotions with that brand, which is more effective than just showing them a Facebook ad or something. Occasionally the line blurs between experiential marketing and a straightforward PR stunt, but I’m not here to waste time quibbling over definitions”. 10 very cool examples of experiential... [...]